Sturmtiger Assault Gun

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In 1943 the German Army issued a requirement for an armoured vehicle to help with street fighting in Stalingrad and other built up areas on the Russian Front. Fighting troops requested a self-propelled howitzer capable of engaging and destroying fortified buildings and other strong points. The weapon chosen was the Raketenwerfer 61 L/5.4, a 38cm rocket projector that had been developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use against submarines. This projector was to be mounted on the chassis of the Tiger tank.On 20 October 1943 a prototype of this Sturmtiger (Storm or Assault Tiger) was demonstrated to Hitler and the General Staff. The vehicle was accepted for limited production and ten examples were built by Alkett of Berlin during August and September 1944. On 23 September Hitler ordered further vehicles to be built and another five were completed. On 5 January 1945 Hitler again ordered further production but due to manufacturing problems and shortages at that stage of the war the total production run of the Sturmtiger reached just eighteen vehicles.The Sturmtiger used the Tiger Ausf E hull with the turret and hull roof replaced with a new fixed superstructure. This formed the fighting compartment and consisted of an 80mm thick back plate at the forward edge of the engine compartment, side plates 80mm thick extending upwards from the sides of the hull, and a 26mm roof plate. It was completed by a front plate 150mm thick, sloping up at 45 degrees from the original chassis glacis plate. The main armament was mounted in this, to the right of centre, along with a ball-mounted machine gun on the extreme right hand side.The rocket projector fired a 1.49m long projectile weighing 345kg to a range of 5,700m. The projector was breech loaded, using a small roof-mounted winch and a rollered loading tray. The fighting compartment could hold twelve rockets, plus one on the loading tray, these being loaded initially from the outside using a small crane on top of the fighting compartment.All production Sturmtigers were built on very late production Tiger Ausf E chassis with all-steel roadwheels. The prototype was distinguished by being based on an earlier production chassis with rubber tyred roadwheels and in having an earlier version of the mantlet and muzzle casting. On the prototype this casting came short of the end of the barrel whereas on production vehicle it extended to the end of the barrel and had four lugs cast into it at the muzzle. The prototype also had extra armour bolted to the vehicle nose.

Early Production Model

Early production Sturmtigers had no extra armour on the nose but did have Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste. The Zimmerit was usually applied only to the hull front and sides and not to the superstructure.

This Sturmtiger was captured during the war and was later transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground, USA. After the war it was put on display in the Ordnance Museum at APG in an ambush camouflage system. It was in very good condition, and had straight-pattern Zimmerit and the rare circular muzzle counterweight. However, it is a standard early model vehicle in other respects, such as nose armour and straight edge towing lugs. It has since been returned to Germany and is now on display at Koblenz. Also, it has marks on the engine deck that may indicate it was converted from an early Tiger that originally had Feifel equipment (source: L. Archer).

Late Production Model

Later model Sturmtigers were again fitted with armour on the nose and also had a counterweight on the mortar muzzle to make aiming easier. This counterweight was asymmetric and largely semi-circular in shape. It fitted at the end of the barrel just in front of the side muzzle lugs and enclosed the upper and lower lugs. It is not known whether these later model Sturmtigers were built as such or were rebuilds of standard vehicles.Most early and late model Sturmtigers, including the prototype, had straight front edge towing lugs either side of the nose. However at least one early model vehicle had the lugs cut away above the towing eyes, and another had them cut away but with an additional eye added above the first one on each lug. This latter vehicle was captured and examined by American troops early in 1945. It was unusual in also having a flat, circular counterweight fitted on the barrel, fixed in front of all the muzzle lugs.Another Sturmtiger was captured during the war and was recovered by the US 464th Ordnance Evacuation Company. It had been abandoned in February 1945 in a village near the Reichswald after having thrown its right track. It also showed battle damage including four shell holes in the rear right of the engine compartment. It was shipped to the School of Tank Technology in England for examination but its eventual end is not known. It was a standard early model vehicle with waffle-pattern Zimmerit, asymmetric counterweight and straight edge towing lugs.The Sturmtiger had poor mobility and was of limited use outside urban areas. Some vehicles saw service in Western Europe during the closing stages of the war but had no significant impact on the fighting.

This is a late model Sturmtiger with extra nose armour. It has a redesigned, heavier mantlet with extra armour on the lower part, and it has an unusual metal bracket underneath the gun (source: L. Archer). It is fitted with a Russian headlamp on the left of the glacis plate.